


A Night in Gotham

by navaan



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Community: girlsavesboyfic, F/M, Gen, Gen Fic, POV Female Character, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-14
Updated: 2011-10-14
Packaged: 2017-10-28 23:58:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/313586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan/pseuds/navaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A quiet night in Gotham turns into a sewer adventure. Batgirl finds the boys in a bit of a situation, very slight hints of Barbara/Dick and Steph/Tim</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Night in Gotham

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for girlsavesboyfic ficathon on livejournal

For Gotham city this was a slow an quite night. Stephanie had learned to enjoy those, even if her first impulse was to feel a little bored. She loved the excitement and adrenaline that came with the busy nights, but she reminded herself time an again that quiet meant that no harm had come to the citizens of Gotham.

She couldn’t help feeling that it was only the calm before a storm. Maybe she was a little too skeptical when it came to a quite city, but with all that had happened over the years who could blame her?

“Batgirl?”

“Something going on?”

Oracle’s voice fell silent for a moment and Stephanie standing on the edge of a roof leaned forward to look down, trying to be patient for once. “I’m not sure. There is no contact with Batman. Probably nothing to worry about.” _But I’m worried._ Stephanie was getting better at reading between the lines.

“Sure he isn’t working under cover?”

There was another slight pause. Then: “I would know.”

Stephanie nodded to herself. “Of course,” she said. Because Oracle knew everything - and not because Dick Grayson told her everything. Not that Barbara told him everything either. They were actually pretty good at not telling each other things. Especially the things that we’re personal and very important. _Because we’re Dick and Barbara and we’re both stupid._

But Steph wasn’t in any position to point her finger at anyone. It wasn’t like her relationship with Tim had worked out well. _Because, hello, we’re Tim and Steph and we’re both stupid._

“Oracle? I’ll look into it, all right?”

“Maybe you should check out this first: There was a bombing at a plant in East End.” There is no way of telling from the modulated voice, but Stephanie could tell by now when Barbara changed the topic too quickly. “I’ll be there in a moment.”

Another peaceful night in Gotham.

***

The bombing was a fake. There was fire raging in the building, a few thugs were fleeing right into the arms of the police. It was an elaborate set up to hide something else and Stephanie couldn’t point her finger on what it was supposed to be. Until she found herself fleeing the burning building right into the sewers of the city and felt that she just might have found a lead. She went down the rabbit hole without even thinking about it.

This had to be an old part of the labyrinth beneath Gotham and Stephanie felt claustrophobic... and wet.

“Can you see something?” Oracles voice sounded distant and a tad too muted.

“It’s dark and wet. What’s there to see? Rats?”

“Bats?” Barbara answered with a question of her own.

“Bats do live in caves. I didn’t know the modern Bat would prefer the sewer network.”

There was slight static sound. “Kids these days, huh?”

Dick Grayson wasn’t exactly a kid, but he could be described as Batman junior now more than ever. He was the second generation. But Stephanie would not be the one to suggest the name change. “Is there some interference?”

“I think so yes. I fear if you go in deeper, you’ll be on your own.”

***

Steph had had to deal with a lot of things on her own, but she and Barbara had grown into an invincible team and the sudden radio silence bothered her more than she would’ve thought it would. Barbara, not only Oracle, had become an important part of her life. A mentor, a teacher, a friend. A constant help.

The tunnel was getting darker and more slippery and her own breathing was the only sound she had heard for a while now. She didn’t have a clue what she was looking for either. A way up out of the sewers would be welcome right about now, but this way only seemed to lead her further down, but without Orcale’s voice to lead her, she had no idea where she was going.

There is a sudden crash, somewhere ahead of her and she can feel the tunnel vibrate with the impact. For a dreadful moment that seemed to go on forever she was sure the tunnel was collapsing. But the ground stopped shaking a moment later, followed by another crash and something that sounded like a pained scream. Something was going on at the end of her dark tunnel and she had the distinct feeling that Batgirl intervention was required.

She dashed forward, trying hard to keep herself from slipping on the wet and slippery ground, and stopped to survey the scene when she finally reached the end of her little tunnel. Below her was water, glittering black and smelling rank and dirty. On a side ledge a man was trying to hold on to a collapsing ledge. She could barely make out his outline, but she could make out a red, green shape, hanging from a rope beneath the ledge. Robin was holding on to the rope with one hand. Something jumped up from the water, aiming for the dark shape she can’t see clearly. If it were Batman she was sure she’d know. The shape of a cape like that would be distinctive. She had to assume this was a thug and Robin had tired to stop him. The man screamed. Damian didn’t make a sound, but that wasn’t altogether surprising. It took only split second to make a decision. She jumped to the ledge effortless, careful to aim right and not slip.

“Robin, are you alright?” she called, while simultaneously throwing what she jokingly calls her superb Bat-rope towards the now falling man. It was a close thing, but it worked out. The man was suspended in mid fall.

“What are _you_ doing here?” What else had she expected from Damian? Thankfulness? Yeah, very likely.

“You’re okay, then, little devil.”

There was a moment of silence and Stephanie could only here the groaning suspect - victim? -, until Damian made a pained sound of his own and admitted: “I can’t get up alone.”

“Come again?”

“My arm is broken. I can’t climb up...” And probably he couldn’t hold on to the chain he was holding on to much longer either. They both knew he was not going to say it and so she leaned down to help him up, and not one second to soon, because his hand was already slipping. Neither commented on that. It was hard enough to get the boy up to the ledge without jolting his broken arm without arguing with each other.

“Where is Batman?” she asked a moment later. The man was still wailing and she made her way over to look down. “And who’s he?”

“I’m here,” a gruff voice said from the darkness a moment later Batman was landing behind them on the ledge, letting himself sag forward and leaned his hand against the wall. Normally Grayson was so much more graceful, so Stephanie just knew it must be bad. “He’s the only one who can explain what’s down there by the way. So we should probably keep him alive, you know? Pull him up?” He pointed at the water again.

“Killer Croc?” she asked, thinking that what she had seen had been _different_.

Batman turned around and Steph was shocked to see huge parts of his armour missing. Teeth marks and blood were barely visible in the darkness. “Did you meet a shark?” Damian asked from beside her. “What _was_ it?”

There was an ominous splash in the water and Stephanie turned around, but not fast enough to see anything. There was nothing but a short snapping sound and a gurgling sound followed by splash. They knew their witness is gone now.

“Let’s get out of here,” Damian whispered.

“I’ll need some help with that.” He managed to keep the Batman voice in check, but Damian looked at him in a way that Step would describe at worried - or as worried as Damian was prone to look.

With Damian’s help she managed to get them out of there. Only out in the open did Steph and Damian realize how bad Dick was bleeding. It was rare for Damian to look at her with a neutral expression, but she could have sworn that this time he is glad that she was around. Because neither he nor Dick are in any position to rush them of to get the medical help that is needed.

When they reach the Thompson clinic Dick was unconscious.

***

“Thank you,” Barbara said to her when it became clear that Leslie Thompson had worked her magic again.

“It was luck more than anything that I found them.”

Barbara shrugged. “Where would we be if not for luck.”

Stephanie shook her head. “We’re still only at the beginning. There’s something lethal hiding in the Sewers.”

“Doesn’t that make a change?” Barbara looked at her with a sour expression. “It’s pretty clear that whatever it is: It escaped from the bombing sight. That’s where we’ll start from.”

“Right,” Steph cut Barbara off yawning. “I’m off to bed... Long day and night tomorrow.”

Barbara nodded and wheeled hersel along the corridor.

“And Babs. Tell him you were worried, okay?”

“He knows.” Barbara said it in her best teaching voice.

“Tell him anyway, okay?” She hurried out of the door, before Barbara had time to protest again. Her mum would make sure that she wouldn’t be late for college tomorrow and she’d have to hurry home to get in bed before her mum barged in.


End file.
